After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Before she could even gain the favor, trouble struck first. Physician Jiang went missing, and right at the gate of the General's Mansion. When the news reached the palace, the Emperor and Empress summoned Xie Chaoyun one after the other.

Mentioning the Fang family, the Empress frowned slightly: "Fang Zhi, the daughter of Minister Fang of the Ministry of Rites, you said that my brother's disappearance is related to her?"

"This humble woman has no evidence, only speculation." Xie Chaoyun looked at the Empress: "Miss Fang is deeply in love with Physician Jiang, and today she even threatened to hang herself to coerce him into coming to her residence. The Jiang family steward can testify to this. Miss Fang is an extraordinary person, and it is hard to guarantee that she will not act rashly out of love turning into hatred."

"Fang Zhi, how dare you threaten my Jiang family with death..." The Empress's eyes were filled with cold light. She squatted down, helped Xie Chaoyun up, and took the opportunity to test her thoughts: "You know how your brother feels about you. Now that you are free, are you willing to marry your brother? Don't worry, as long as you nod, I will make all the decisions for you."

"Your Majesty the Empress is too kind to favor me, but I have no intention of remarrying." Xie Chaoyun replied with the courtesy due to a general. "I have already explained everything to Physician Jiang. In my heart, he is the elder brother who has taken care of me since childhood, and there is absolutely no romantic relationship between us. I have already requested permission to be stationed at the border and will be leaving the capital in three days."

The Empress sighed: "Why are you doing this? Even if you don't like your brother, you don't need to avoid him like this. In the end, it's all his wishful thinking, and he's the one putting you in this difficult position."

Xie Chaoyun raised her eyes and said, "Your Majesty the Empress has watched me grow up and knows that I love martial arts. It has always been my wish to guard the border with my father. My departure from the capital is not because of Physician Jiang, but for my own heartfelt wish. I beg Your Majesty the Empress to grant my request!"

"You're such a willful child!" The Empress grabbed her hand. "What will happen to Yuan'er if you leave? Are you sure you can leave her in the Marquis's mansion? You know what kind of person Lu Huai is, don't you? And what about her health? Are you willing to give her up?"

Xie Chaoyun's eyes were slightly red as she knelt on the ground, taking the Empress's hand: "Your Majesty, I dare to entrust Yuan'er to you! Yuan'er is the daughter of the Lu family, and Marquis Lu will certainly not allow her to live in the Xie family. My eldest brother is busy with business, and my second brother is diligent in his duties; they have no time to take care of Yuan'er. Yuan'er is unwell and needs a doctor to care for her at all times. After much thought, I believe that Your Majesty's presence is the most suitable. I humbly request Your Majesty to take care of Yuan'er on my behalf."

"Since you've said so, how could I refuse?" The Empress helped her up. "Don't worry, as long as I'm in this palace, I won't let your Yuan'er suffer any injustice. In my heart, she's the same as Ping Le."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xie Chaoyun bowed again: "Imperial Physician Jiang was lost in front of the General's Mansion. I will find him myself."

"Now that we know it was the Fang family who did it, then let the Jiang family take the lead." The Empress patted her shoulder: "The journey to the border is long, and you must have many things to do. Spend more time with Yuan'er; she is a good child."

After Xie Chaoyun left, the Empress sent a maid to the Jiang family with a message. A mere Vice Minister of Rites dared to set his sights on the Jiang family; the Fang family must be tired of living.

Granny Jiang looked up at Xie Chaoyun's back and asked in a low voice, "Does Your Highness really intend to bring Miss Lu into the palace?"

The Empress laughed: "Do you really think that was Xie Chaoyun's idea? She only has one daughter, Lu Zhiyuan. How could she bear to send her into the palace? It was His Majesty's idea."

Jiang Mama felt a chill in her heart: "His Majesty intends to..."

The Empress lowered her eyes and fidgeted with her fingers: "The Crown Prince needs a Crown Princess with a powerful background. I think Lu Zhiyuan is quite suitable. What do you think, Granny?"

Born into a noble family and with the Xie family as her support, she was short-lived and unable to bear children, making her practically the chosen Crown Princess. Her only drawback was her young age, being nine years younger than the Crown Prince.

As Xie Chaoyun stepped out of the palace gate, Fang Zhi sneaked to the back gate of the Fang residence. The gate was bolted from the inside, and through the crack, she could see her personal maid and the coachman.

As soon as the door opened, a maid rushed over, looking anxious: "Miss, are we really going to take Physician Jiang to the country estate? Master said that everyone in the city is looking for him. If someone sees him, it could cause a huge disaster."

Fang Zhi pulled the maid inside and told her to keep her voice down. Then she had the guards move the sack containing Physician Jiang into the carriage. She had calculated it all. The decree to lift the lockdown had just been issued; the Emperor would not close the city gates for a mere physician, causing widespread panic. For Physician Jiang's safety, the Empress would not make a big fuss. She was the daughter of an official, and the soldiers guarding the city would not dare to search her arbitrarily. She only needed to take Physician Jiang to his country estate, consummate the marriage, and she was sure the Jiang family would accept her as their future young mistress.

Having made up his mind, he climbed into the carriage and spurred his horse toward the west gate. Lord Fang, who had rushed over upon receiving the news, was frantic, slapping his thigh in desperation. Others might not know who had kidnapped Imperial Physician Jiang, but he certainly did. He only had one daughter, and he had to spoil her, whether he wanted to or not. But even with such favoritism, there had to be limits. If the Jiang family found out, the Empress could easily find a pretext to bring the Fang family to their doom.

Seeing the carriage getting further and further away, Lord Fang quickly ordered someone to bring the horse back. A small hand reached out from behind and tugged at his sleeve: "My lord, you don't want to establish a connection with the Jiang family? You don't want Miss Fang to become the matriarch of the Jiang family?"

“I do want to, but when it comes to future prospects, my head is more important.” Lord Fang stamped his foot anxiously: “Please ask Miss Jinyao to convey this to the Grand Tutor. I understand his good intentions towards me, but romantic love cannot be forced. Even if Zhi’er has a relationship with Physician Jiang, if the Jiang family cannot bear it, it will be Zhi’er who suffers.”

“Lord Fang is overthinking it. With her godfather around, Miss Fang will surely get what she wants.” Lu Jinyao stroked the bottle in her hand: “Imperial Physician Jiang doesn’t know how good Miss Fang is. Once they consummate their marriage, he will definitely be inseparable from her.”

It sounded rather awkward coming from a ten-year-old girl, since no respectable young lady would talk about matters of the heart. Having worked in officialdom, I had some understanding of its intricacies. This Lu Jinyao was born to the concubine of the Marquis of Pingnan, and was said to be listed in the Lu family genealogy. However, it was unclear when she became involved with the Wei family, transforming herself into the adopted daughter of Grand Tutor Wei.

The concubine's daughter of the Marquis of Pingnan, the noble concubine of the Prince of Yue, and the adopted daughter of Grand Tutor Wei—each of them individually is unremarkable, but together they are a force to be reckoned with. Otherwise, he would not have listened to the words of a ten-year-old child and allowed Fang Zhi to repeatedly make mistakes in the matter of Physician Jiang.

While she was pondering, Fang Zhi's carriage had already driven far away.

Lord Fang sighed, ordered the marks at the back door to be cleaned up, and invited Lu Jinyao to the front hall for a talk. Liu Ying peeked out from the opposite wall and asked Lu Zhiyuan beside her, "How did you know that Lu Jinyao was involved in the Fang family's affairs?"

Because Lu Jinyao is the most likely person to replace Ji Wanwan as the female lead! The female lead in the book and the female lead in the plot are everywhere, aren't they?